Media6Degrees raises $17M to aim ads at social audiences

Advertising startup Media6Degrees has raised $17 million in a second round of venture funding for what it calls “social targeting.”

The New York-headquartered company says it uses anonymous social data to go beyond normal online ad targeting, which is traditionally based on audience demographics or the content on a website. Instead, Media6Degrees finds “brand loyalists” or other audience members who have a strong connection to the advertiser, and it builds a customized audience for advertisers based on the loyalists’ closest social connections.

In the funding press release, the company says that it has 110 active brand-name clients, and that it’s on $30 million annual revenue run rate for the fourth quarter of the year (meaning that it will make $7.5 million between October and December). It seems like there’s a huge opportunity for growth here, since advertising on social networks is at such an early stage.

AllThingsD’s Peter Kafka notes that the investment comes as the federal government wants Web browsers and websites to offer more user control when it comes to online privacy. The deal suggests investors aren’t too worried about a government crackdown, Kafka argues.